Follow in your reader

Tag: Compassion

What Kind Of Leader Are You?

Advice from Wendy Smith. Wendy is a Career and Life Coach helping you find fresh perspectives on life and your career. You can book a FREE coaching session or find out more at this link

What Kind Of Leader Are You? Well, let me ask you a question. If you had a choice, what kind of person would you want to follow? It is a good question to ask yourself if you are leader in any capacity. That means from leading a hobby group, a small work team or even a major corporation.

There are some obvious characteristics in our “good leader”, aren’t there? For example, we would all want a leader who acted with integrity. Integrity is the very bedrock of trust and we all hope that we can trust the person who is showing us the way ahead. As for me, I want to follow someone I believe when they tell me it is safe to take a risk. I’m not going to walk across that rope bridge to a what you tell me is a bright future unless I believe that it really is strong enough to keep me out of the river. Sometimes of course you won’t know any more than I do – but you will certainly know how to find out as much as possible. And you’ll tell me clearly what the facts are and why I should take the risk anyway, if I should.

Of course, we want a leader who has a clear vision of where we are trying to go And their works can paint it so that we can see the destination too. We want someone who can paint the future in colours that lead us to have enough faith to step out with them. We need a message that gets us all turning in the same direction – marching along together. The vision needs to be bright enough to illuminate the way.

What Kind Of Leader Are You?

Most of us would like to follow a leader who wasn’t working for their own ends but for ours. That is a servant leader who is prepared to act with compassion. John Maxwell put it this way: “Servant-leaders never pursue a mission at the expense of their people. Rather, servant-leaders earn the loyalty and best efforts of their people by serving the interests and investing in the development of those they lead. A servant-leader wants to see others succeed.”

Good leaders know that they’re only as good as the people who support them. They invest time and energy in ensuring the well-being and success of their team.

So, what kind of leader are you? Are you demonstrating integrity, vision and compassion? If not, what changes do you plan to make? You will need to change something won’t you? That is if you are serious about your career and expect others to follow you.

If you would like some help in developing your leadership skills please get in touch. Good leaders are modest enough to know that working with a coach really can make a difference.Wendy Smith is a career consultant, life coach and business coach with depth of experience in helping people lead happier lives and feel more fulfilled. She has worked in management as well as coaching and personal development, as well as starting up her own businesses. That means she is equally at home helping clients find a new career direction, starting-up a new business or dealing with life’s more challenging personal issues.

Need help finding work, with problems at work, at home or with relationships? Book a FREE coaching session with Wendy or find out more at this link

What Kind Of Leader Are You?

What kind of leader are you? So, if you had a choice, what kind of person would you want to follow? It is a good question to ask yourself if you are leader in any capacity – from a hobby group, a small work team to a major corporation.

Well, there are some obvious characteristics, aren’t there? For example, we would all want a leader who acted with integrity. Integrity is the very bedrock of trust and we all hope that we can trust the person who is showing us the way ahead. As for me, I want to follow someone I can believe when they tell me it is safe to take a risk. I’m not going to walk across that rope bridge to a what you tell me is a bright future unless I believe that it really is strong enough to keep me out of the river. Now, sometimes of course you won’t know any more than I do – but you will certainly know how to find out as much as possible. And you’ll tell me clearly what the facts are and why I should take the risk anyway, if I should.

Then, of course, we want a leader who has a clear vision of where we are trying to go and can paint it in a way that we can see the destination too. We want someone who can paint the future in colours that lead us to have enough faith to step out with them. We need a message that gets us all turning in the same direction and marching a long together. That vision needs to be bright enough to illuminate the way.

Most of all we would like to follow a leader who wasn’t working for their own ends but for ours; a servant leader who is prepared to act with compassion. John Maxwell put it this way: “Servant-leaders never pursue a mission at the expense of their people. Rather, servant-leaders earn the loyalty and best efforts of their people by serving the interests and investing in the development of those they lead. A servant-leader wants to see others succeed.” Good leaders know that they’re only as good as the people who support them and so they invest time and energy in ensuring the well-being and success of their team.

What Kind Of Leader Are You?

So, what kind of leader are you? Are you demonstrating integrity, vision and compassion? If not, what changes do you plan to make? You will need to change something won’t you, if you are serious about your career and expect others to follow you.

If you would like some help in developing your leadership skills please get in touch. Good leaders are modest enough to know that working with a coach really can make a difference.

Wendy Mason is the The Career Coach – helping you to find fresh perspectives on your Job Search and Career. She helps you work towards your goals and aspirations, in a way that fits in with both work and home life. Email her at wendymason@wisewolfcoaching.com, find her on Skype at wendymason14, or call +44 (0) 2081239146 (02081239146 for UK callers) or +1 262 317 9016 if you are in the US.

A free trial/consultation allows you to try phone coaching from the comfort of your own home and without risk. Don’t forget to ask about the Summer Special Offer

Professor C.O. Herkströter, former CEO of Shell and Chairman of the Board of ING wrote this when reviewing the book.

“This book examines capitalism and Buddhism in a fascinating way. Everybody in business who is seriously interested in responsible entrepreneurship will recognise the issues. The book adds a valuable dimension to the values and ethical standards that form the basis for responsible leadership in business.”

The approach represents the synthesis of East and West and provides an inspiring manifesto for business change. The first part of The Leader’s Way two-part message is this: in order to lead, you must understand the reasons for our actions then you can act to solve problems through integrity, respect and sensitivity toward others.

Recently the Dalai Lama spoke about compassion and global leadership. He said good leaders today needed to be warm-hearted and practice open communication. With compassion, he believes we gain self-confidence and rid ourselves of our fears. “Then we can have honesty, then we can have trust.”

What does this mean for us in the work place?

If you look at the roots of the word compassion you begin to see how it can apply. It meant to suffer with! That has huge implications in the present economic climate doesn’t it? It means to feel another’s pain.

What a burden that could be if we lead a large organisation. Does that mean we have to feel the consequence of the every decision we make? Well yes, I believe we do! We need to be able to feel it and weigh it in the balance but it should not disable our ability to make hard decisions

A former colleague told me the following story.

“Some years ago I was invited to a funeral. The person who had died had worked at quite a junior level in my division in a UK government department. He had loved his job – his whole world had been centred on his work.

But he became ill. In his role that put the safety of others at risk. But there wasn’t any other work available for him to do! It was the time of an earlier round of UK Government cuts. So I made the decision we couldn’t keep him on

He was devastated. It is probably fair to say he lost the will to live.

I went to his funeral but it was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. I didn’t know what to expect! But his family were just delighted that a senior manager from the Department had come along.

Did I regret my decision? No! Was I pained by that decision? Yes, deeply! But then no one said being a senior manager or a leader was always going to be easy.”

The person who told me that story was a well loved, trusted and very effective leader.

Tenzin Gayatso could be the last Dalai Lama, but his message is timeless.

Related Articles

Wendy Mason works as a consultant, business coach and blogger. Adept at problem solving, she is a great person to bring in when that one thing you thought was straightforward turns out not to be! If you have a problem talk to Wendy – she can help you – email her atwendymason@wisewolfconsulting.comor ring ++44(0)7867681439